Back to New Orleans

Two weekends before Mardi Gras, Paul and I decided to make an impromptu visit back to N.O. to revisit Carnival. So we loaded up the RV on Saturday morning (complete with dog) and made the trek. We knew it would either be a great visit or a terrible visit. Luckily, it turned out great. I arranged for the girls' best friends to meet us on the parade route in Metairie as a surprise for both of them. Their expressions were absolutely priceless and completely worth the seven hour drive. This is Hannah with her best friend Macy.

Best Friends Reunited!

Emma waits patiently for the parade to begin.

Jake waits patiently for the parade to begin. (Yes, I know he needs his own folding chair!)

A group picture. The best one we could get under the circumstances.

My precious boy

A rare photo of me - thanks to our friend Dawn.

And here is Dawn. A dear friend and also AT&T employee.

Dawn spoiled Paul by bringing him EIGHT POUNDS of crawfish - fresh and hot out of the pot. He was in HOG HEAVEN.

Jake gives Chris Crawfish a kiss!

The parade finally begins!!

Jake snags a cool balloon hat from the clown float while the parade stalls.

And here is Emma with her beloved "Pakenzie". She - along with her parents and brother - showed up just about the time Macy and her family were leaving. Neither Emma nor Makenzie had any idea they would be seeing each other. It was sooo sweet!

Hannah and Makenzie try to score some loot while Emma stuffs it all into a bag.

Best friends rock!

Dawn also spoiled the rest of us by bringing a Randazzo's cream cheese King Cake. The girls are stuffing their faces and hoping to find the baby.

At the end of the first parade we headed over to the AT&T parade stand to catch some of the acts performing on the stage across the street. There was a big crowd.

Jake and I enjoy the music and watching the folks below.

One last look at the view down the street before we headed back to our spots for the second parade. Carnival was just a blast!

Tennessee Snow

On January 20th, we awoke to our first Tennessee snow (well at least for THIS move to Tennessee!). Ok, I know all our Northern friends and family are snickering at this "snow", but the girls were thrilled and insisted on running out in it before heading off to school.

Emma doesn't remember the snow from the first time we lived here so she especially thought it was cool.

Here's the view out our backyard.

And here's the view from the front door. As you can see our subdivision still has a lot of undeveloped land and we LOVE it.

So this is the same view but on the 28th of January. This was a lot better dusting and they actually cancelled school for this one. Funny, I know but I guess they were worried about the buses. It really was beautiful.

This is a shot down the street, towards the back entrance of the subdivision.

And this is our house, for those of you that have been asking to see pics.

A shot from the screened-in porch into the backyard.

Another picture of the backyard

So mid-morning we got a call that the golf course (attached to the subdivision) was inviting all the kids from the neighbor to come over for sledding (on the course!!), hot chocolate, and s'mores. I was hesitant, but we ended up having the BEST time. We met the nicest people and everyone was so excited to be out of school. It ended up being a wonderful day. The other children eagerly offered up their sleds so Hannah and Emma could have a ride. This was a first for both of them and it's easy to see how excited they were.

This is the golf course. You can see the roofs of some of the houses in the neighborhood way in the distance.

Hannah and Emma zoom down the hill.

Emma enjoys the beautiful snow.

Hannah gets busy roasting a marshmallow for her s'more after they tire of sledding.

Emma chows down on her s'more. What a cutie!

Although I didn't mention him earlier, Jake was with us during this entire excursion. He reminds me so much of Emma at this age; he's very much a "watcher" in new situations and so was very content to stay by my side and see what everyone else was doing. He really enjoyed his s'mores as well!

As we left the course, I just had to stop and take this picture. It's the road leading out and it was just so beautiful.